9 US soldiers killed by car bombing at patrol base

From WaPo...

BAGHDAD -- Nine U.S. soldiers were killed and 20 were wounded Monday in a suicide car bombing against a patrol base northeast of Baghdad, the military said.

An Iraqi civilian was also wounded in the attack on Task Force Lightning soldiers in Diyala province, a volatile area that has been the site of fierce fighting involving U.S. and Iraqi troops, Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias.

This heartbreaking April 2nd NYT article reports on the fighting and dying in Diyala province and the use of patrol bases there, as in Baghdad, where such bases  are considered the pillar of the surge. From MSNBC yesterday...

So far, the deployment of additional troops in Baghdad is only 60 percent complete, and incoming units in many parts of the city are still conducting initial, labor-intensive operations to "clear" neighborhoods before setting up patrol bases, a pillar of Petraeus's counterinsurgency plan.

Attacks like this today demonstrate why back in February the Times Online reported this on  the surge bases ....."They are already being called the Alamo"

I fear we'll see more such attacks. And on it goes....